A Friendship So Deep
by DragonShadow
Summary: Episode 3 of the Growing Up Creepier series. Creepie is supposed to come home with Carla and Melanie, but she never returns. Chris-Alice is left scrambling for answers that aren't there and eventually finds kinship in the most unlikely of sources.
1. Part 1

(Author's Notes: Episode 3 of the "Growing Up Creepier" series, updated daily until completion

Rated "K+" for homosexuality, reader discretion is advised)

Growing Up Creepier: Episode 03

A Friendship So Deep

"Have you ever noticed how blue the sky is?" A light, flutelike voice hovered through the air in the small town of Middlington, floating from the shining red lips of the redheaded girl who danced her way down the sidewalk with a hopelessly content smile plastered on her face. "And look at those clouds! Oohhh they're so white today! They're like cotton candy! Teehee, hey, do you ever think they should make cloud candy? I bet it would taste sooo good!" Chris-Alice Hollyruller's giggle could be heard several blocks away as she spun on her heel.

"Um… yes, I've seen them, they kind of do, and I can't say I have." Her companion Raven answered her comments in order, with her typically droll expression plastered on her ghostly white face. "Now I've got one for you… how many pixie sticks did you say you had again?"

"Seven, why!?" Chris-Alice replied with a quick grin.

"Just curious." Raven sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Creepie's probably waiting for us!" Chris-Alice gripped her sour friend's hand and bolted more quickly down the sidewalk, nearly dragging the black-clad girl across the ground behind her, though she managed to stay on her feet.

Creepie Creecher, Chris-Alice and Raven's best friend and the reason they ever spent time together… initially, anyway, Raven thought to herself as her feet scrambled to keep up with her hyperactive partner. Over the time since Creepie had been sent to juvie, Raven and Chris-Alice had spent a lot of time together. Raven had been reluctant at first, but she had to admit Chris-Alice had a way of dragging a smile out of anybody, even someone who was determined to be as sour as possible. Spending time with her had become almost… enjoyable.

"I can't believe it's really been a whole month since Creepie got thrown in the slammer, do you think she's changed a lot?" Chris-Alice wondered with a finger on her chin as they approached the massive wrought iron gates that surrounded Dweezewold Manner. Despite the fact that everyone now knew Creepie lived there, it looked as old and decrepit as ever… because that was how Creepie and her family liked it.

"I don't know, can't say I've ever been in Juvie." Raven shrugged. "I'm sure she didn't change TOO much, she doesn't seem like the type to change for anyone."

"Yeah, definitely!" Chris-Alice grinned as she pushed open the gate, then sprinted the rest of the way up to the massive double-doors at the front of the mansion. Raven continued to tail her at a slower pace, watching her friend slam her fist into the door as she approached. "Creepie! We're here, and we're very eager to see you again!" Chris-Alice slammed her fist into the massive doors again. "Creepie!? Come ooooonnnnn! We'reherewe'reherewe'rehere!"

"Are you sure she's out already? Maybe she hasn't gotten home yet." Raven suggested.

"I guess maybe she's not home, but at least her mom usually answers." Chris-Alice reached for the doorknob, and squeaked in surprised when it turned easily at her touch, setting the old, rotting door swinging inward on rusted hinges.

Chris-Alice and Raven exchanged a quick glance a moment before the redhead stepped forward, gripping the doorframe lightly. "Hellooooo?" Chris-Alice called into the house, but it remained eerily still and quiet. "Where is everybody?"

"Not finding out by standing out here. Come on." Raven stepped inside the dark house, ignoring the sound of the floorboards creaking under her shoes as she walked across the living room toward the back hallway.

Chris-Alice's faster, lighter steps rushed up behind her, and she felt her friend grab her right arm in both hands, gripping it like a worried child walking into a dark room. Raven let her hold on as they moved down the hallway, passing broken, deserted room after broken, deserted room. After a few minutes Raven's gaze settled on a specific door that lay open before them, with thick, metal chains lying on the ground just outside of it. A massive padlock stared up at them from the floor, unlocked and unable to hold the chains in place any longer.

Chris-Alice gasped right behind Raven's head, clutching at her arm tighter. "That's the door to Aunt Rose's room…"

"Aunt Rose?" Raven lifted one eyebrow. Despite being Creepie's friend, she had never been given the tour of Creepie's place.

"I don't even know what it is, but Creepie says it should never, ever be let out into the human population…" She felt Chris-Alice shiver. "What if it's out there right now? Or… what if it's… in here?" She gulped.

A thunderous bump on one of the floorboards further down the hallway was met an instant later by a piercing Shriek from Chris-Alice, who instantly leapt on top of Raven, knocking her against the wall in her panic and trying to pull her down the hall. "Runrunrunrunrun!"

"Hey, whoa there, hold on!" A distinctly human voice reassured them from the shadowed hallway. Chris-Alive shivered, clutching at Raven tightly as the tall, lanky figure of a boy emerged from the shadows, holding up his hands in a disarming manner. The redhead didn't begin breathing again until she seemed to recognize him a few moments later. "It's just me." Skipper lowered his arms with a disarming smile. "I've been looking for Creepie, but she's not anywhere in the house… and neither is her family."

"You searched the entire house?" Chris-Alice bit her lip nervously and pushed away from Raven, standing on her own while her dark friend struggled to catch her breath after being nearly hugged to death. "But Creepie's family NEVER leaves the house…"

"I know, I'm starting to get really worried here…" Skipper raised his hand to his chin. "I'm sure her letter said she was getting out of Juvie today, and her family would still be here even if she wasn't. Something's not right…"

"Where do you think they are?" Raven moved away from the wall, brushing herself off and quickly regaining her composure.

"What if they're hurt somewhere?" Chris-Alice gasped and clasped her hands over her cheeks, a look of terror overcoming her features. "Creepie could be hurt! Someone could have come and taken them to do horrible things to them! What if-"

"Chris-Alice!" Raven grabbed her shoulders and shook her roughly, shaking her out of her rant and forcing her to look into her face. The redhead's face had paled considerably. "It's time for a time-out, you're getting hysterical." Chris-Alice stared at her face blankly for a few moments, then nodded and blinked rapidly as she turned towards the wall, taking deep breaths and hugging her arms around her torso.

Raven watched the back of her head with a trace of worry, but she knew her friend would get over it. Ever since her mental episode following the confrontation at the Rembrandt Corporation, Chris-Alice had been prone to fits of hysteria. She could get worked up at the slightest provocation, discovering one of her best friends missing must have been more than she could take. Chris-Alice could control it after some training in the mental hospital, but sometimes she needed to be reminded to use her techniques.

"Standing around wondering won't find Creepie." Raven spoke when it looked like Chris-Alice had calmed herself enough to listen. "We need to look in all the places she might go. Budge's house, Carla's house, Maria's house. If we split up we can check all three at once."

"I'll check Carla's house." Chris-Alice finally turned away from the wall, her face having regained some color, though she was still breathing heavier than normal. "I was going to go see her after we saw Creepie anyway. Her and Melanie just got out too."

"I'll check with Maria, I've spent the most time with her." Skipper offered.

"Okay, I'll ask Budge if he's seen her. We'll meet at Chris-Alice's house in half an hour." Raven turned to Chris-Alice, lowering one of her hands to grip her arm tightly. "Creepie's fine, Chris-Alice. If there's one thing we all know about her, it's that she can take care of herself."

Chris-Alice smiled a somewhat tense smile. "Yeah, thanks, but I'm fine. I can handle it." She took a deep breath and turned to leave quickly, yanking her arm out of Raven's grip and rushing towards the front door. It was an uncharacteristic move that made Raven sigh. Chris-Alice's bubbly nature could get annoying, but it was preferable to seeing her so cold after one of her fits. Oh well, she would bounce back soon enough and get back to being annoying.

"Let's get out of here then, I'm getting really worried about her too." Skipper brushed past Raven, rushing down the hallway toward the front exit.

Raven hesitated a moment, casting one more glance at the thick steel padlock lying on the floor in front of the open door. Another moment later she turned to follow Chris-Alice and Skipper out of the building. She was sure Creepie was fine… but there was nothing wrong with finding her as quickly as possible anyway.

They convened with their contacts, but none of them had seen Creepie except for Carla, and she said they parted ways once they made it into town in order to see their families. The more they searched, the more people noticed the search, and the more people joined in. Even the teachers from their school joined in the search by the time the sun had begun to set, but no matter how many people looked in as many places as they could think of, they couldn't find Creepie anywhere.

"Can I start worrying now?" Chris-Alice shivered, hugging herself against a chill wind that blew over the town of Middlington as the sun began to set in the Western horizon.

"Yeah…" Raven nodded, walking up beside her and looking around at the people still searching every nook and cranny of the town. "I think we can all start worrying now." She told her softly. She didn't even complain when she felt Chris-Alice's fingers entwine with her own.


	2. Part 2

A Friendship So Deep Part 2

A week had passed since the day Creepie had mysterious disappeared. The search had continued for days, until they must have combed every inch of land inside of Middlington, and even the surrounding countryside, all to no avail. With Dweezewold in the manner it was in, run down and decrepit as if unoccupied for at least fifty years, it was as if every trace of her existence had been wiped off the face of the planet. It was easy to believe that maybe, she had never existed at all.

Chris-Alice Hollyruller could only look around her school in stunned disbelief one afternoon, pausing with her lunch tray in her hands and looking around the Middlington Middle School cafeteria. The students were all milling around on their lunch period, some mumbling among themselves while others spoke in loud voices, uncaring of who overheard their conversations. It looked like this every day, Chris-Alice thought to herself. Could things really be getting back to normal…?

"How… can you all just mill around like this?" Chris-Alice blurted suddenly. "How can you just MOVE ON!? How can you just FORGET CREEPIE!?"

"Hey, nobody's forgetting Creepie!" She felt a massive hand touch her shoulder, as a gentle, caring voice spoke from high above her head. She turned her gaze up toward the kind eyes of her best long time friend, Budge. "But what are we supposed to do, Chris-Alice? If there was anything I could do… anything… I'd do it. You know I would, and so would most of the people here."

"But it…" Chris-Alice looked around at the cafeteria again, seeing all eyes turned towards her, including those of Carla and Melanie, along with Raven, Misery Whispers, and Morpheus, the three members of the Plaid Vapors… well, three of the four members, anyway.

"We can't just move on… Creepie has to be out there, she has to…" Chris-Alice stared up at him, as if pleading for reassurance.

"I pray that she is… I have every night since she disappeared." Budge told her in a grim, serious tone. His eyes were brimming with tears, but he seemed to be holding them back. "But that's all we can do now, Chris-Alice… I'm sorry."

Chris-Alice closed her eyes, then suddenly threw her tray to the floor, sending her food spilling out onto the tile with a thunderous crash as her silverware leapt free. "No! Creepie's out there! She's out there!" She shoved away Budge's grasping hand roughly, nearly shoving him into the cafeteria counter before whirling to run back through the school hallways, gritting her teeth in anger though she wasn't sure what she was angry at. She didn't even know where she was going, she knew searching the city was useless, and she couldn't leave the city. She couldn't find Creepie, she couldn't do anything… she couldn't help her this time.

"Rr… RAAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed and slammed her fists into one of the lockers with jarring force, enough to send her stumbling blindly to the ground, where she allowed herself to lay panting for several moments. She could barely see anything anymore, it looked like a sea of red in her vision. She didn't bother to move, to try to wipe it away, she didn't bother to do anything.

"This week has been especially tough on you, hasn't it, Chris-Alice?" A thinly accented, but kind voice spoke from close by Chris-Alice's head a moment later. Finally the girl reached her hand up to wipe her bangs out of her eyes, looking up from the floor to see the diminutive form of Principal Monseratte gazing down at her with a gentle smile. "You were always so attached to your friends. It's made you a wonderful friend to those close to you... but such attachments can be taken too far."

"M-Miss Monseratte…" Chris-Alice sat up quickly, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry… I don't know what came over me…"

"I do, and I understand." Miss Monseratte watched Chris-Alice rise to her feet. "You miss your friend and perhaps, in a way, feel responsible for her?" The principal raised one eyebrow. Chris-Alice didn't argue, turning her eyes to the floor again. "But you cannot take responsibility for the world, Chris-Alice. Whatever happened to Creepie is unfortunate, but nothing you caused, nor something you could have prevented."

"I guess so." Chris-Alice sighed and shook her head. "That doesn't make it any easier to think I might… might never see her again."

"In times of loss, child, are the times that we least need to be alone." Miss Monseratte told her softly. "Creepie is not here, but there is still hope that we may one day invite her back into this very school." Chris-Alice forced a slight smile. "Until then, however, there are still others here who will be there for you, who are still here with you, and who still need your friendship just as much as you need theirs."

She reached out, taking one of Chris-Alice's hands in a soft, comforting grip. "There is nothing in the world worse than not knowing the fate of someone you care about… but you cannot let your own life end because of it. No matter where Creepie is, no matter what has happened to her, she would not want you to pull away from your life because of her. Until we know the truth, all we can do is keep hoping." Her hand released Chris-Alice's after another moment, to be sprayed with an aerosol can of disinfectant before being placed back into one of the pockets on her dress.

"I know that… in my head." Chris-Alice sighed. "I just… can't… accept it." She shook her head. "I just can't stop thinking about it, I can't stop focusing on it…"

"Maybe you need something else to focus on." Chris-Alice looked down the hall away from Miss Monseratte to see Raven approaching, her hard shoes clicking across the polished tile. She stopped in front of Chris-Alice in a few moments. "You haven't been using your techniques, have you?"

"Oh, those…" Chris-Alice blushed. "I've tried, but… they haven't been working so well lately."

"All the more reason not to run off like a lunatic!" Chris-Alice whirled the other way as two more sets of footsteps approached from behind her. She spotted Carla coming towards her, stopping close to the principal, who watched the exchange with a sharp, studying gaze. Walking beside Carla was Melanie, who was still walking with the help of her crutches, but with more practiced ease now. "Seriously, you were just trying to get attention, weren't you?" Carla smirked.

"N-no!" Chris-Alice shook her head vigorously.

"Well you definitely got it anyway." Chris-Alice was giggling softly by the time she turned around again to see Budge standing beside Raven. "You need to take it easy. You're not helping Creepie, or any of us."

"Yeah, I know…" Chris-Alice took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry you guys…"

"You need to get out and do something… so hey, why can't we all take the day off school? You know, for healing purposes." Carla grinned down at their short principal, who responded with a sharp glare.

"As much as you need 'healing', you are not leaving this school until classes are over. Once they are, you are free to do as you please." Miss Monseratte told her in a firm no-questions-asked tone.

Carla sighed. "Well, it was worth a shot." Chris-Alice couldn't help another slight giggle.

Budge chimed in. "After school then, we'll meet by the front door and do lots and lots of healing, sound good to everyone?" The girls all nodded in agreement, even Raven who rarely wanted to hang out with the larger group of Chris-Alice's friends.

"That sounds wonderful…" Chris-Alice sniffled through her broad smile as she looked around at her friends.

They were true to their word too. Once school let out, Chris-Alice was nearly swarmed by her friends. Budge, Carla, Melanie, and Raven swept her out of the school and towards the fairgrounds outside of town before she even had a free moment to think about Creepie. The fair had swept into town a few days prior, but Chris-Alice had been so worried about her friend she'd nearly forgotten about it. Now, however, she was glad it was there, because the five of them raided the place like it was their last day on Earth. From roller coaster to food stand to stupid rigged carnival game, they did everything they could find to do.

Their fun lasted long after the sun had gone down, and the carnival was lit only by the neon lights that decorated the rides and the tall lamps set up sparsely around the fairgrounds. Their laughter continued to echo across the grounds as they approached the exit, looking out over the small town of Middlington with broad grins on their faces… except for Raven, who retained her sour expression, but hadn't complained for the entire evening.

"Wow, I haven't cut loose like that in months." Carla stretched with a satisfied sigh. "I am going to sleep so good tonight."

"Oh, totally." Melanie agreed with a rapid nod and a grin. "I'm so tired I couldn't dial a cell phone."

Carla gasped. "Don't even JOKE about that!"

"I'm tired too." Budge let out a huge yawn, covering his mouth with one hand. "I think I'm gonna head back home. Do you want me to walk you ladies home?"

"We can find our own way back, we're not 'damsels' or anything." Carla rolled her eyes. "Come on Mel, let's go get some beauty sleep, not that we need it. See you tomorrow Chris-Alice." Carla and Melanie waved back at the other three as they turned to head into town.

"How about you two?" Budge turned to Chris-Alice and Raven.

"We can find our way back." Chris-Alice smiled, then leapt up to wrap her arms around Budge's shoulders in a tight hug, her scrawny body dangling from his massive girth. "Thank you soooo much for doing this for me!"

"Heh, hey, my pleasure." Budge smiled and put his hands on her waist to lower her safely back to the ground. "I'll expect to see you smiling at school tomorrow too." He pointed at her in a mock-demanding manner.

"Teehee, I'll do my best." Chris-Alice waved energetically as Budge turned to leave, making his way down the path toward Middlington once again.

"I should go too." Raven nodded solemnly. "I told Misery-Whispers I'd meet him for dinner, and I'm going to be late as it-HRK!" She gasped in surprise when Chris-Alice leapt in front of her and wrapped her up in a tight hug. "Chris-Alice…"

"I know, I know, you hate hugging… and physical contact of any kind." Chris-Alice released her with a broad smile. "You also hate big crowds, but you spent all day with me anyway despite everyone else and the fair crowd… that means so much to me."

"Yeah, well…" Raven blushed lightly. "You seemed like you really needed me… I wouldn't have done it for just anyone."

"I know. Which is why I wanted to get you something to say thank you." Chris-Alice pulled a small box out from behind her back, holding it out to her. "One of the booths in the fairgrounds had it, and I knew you'd want it if you saw it."

"For me? Really?" Raven blinked and took the box from her and tugged the top off of it. Her eyes widened slightly as she pulled out a sparkling necklace in the shape of a black bird, with bright red eyes and a deep violet outline. "Awesomely gruesome…" Raven pulled it out of the box, appreciating it dangling from her fingers before looking up at Chris-Alice appreciatively. "Thank you Chris-Alice, it's great."

"Heee… you and your non-smiling ways. I knew you'd love it." Chris-Alice pulled her into another tight squeeze, then released her, letting her stumble away from the embrace, out of breath. Before she could protest Chris-Alice slipped one arm around her shoulders and turned her back toward Middlington to walk with her towards their homes. "Come on, let's get outta here, we've had enough excitement for one day."

Raven shook her head. "You can be a real headache, Chris-Alice."

"I love you too." Chris-Alice grinned and squeezed her shoulder.


	3. Part 3

A Friendship So Deep: Part 3

"Wow, Chris-Alice… thank you so much." Raven looked at the pendant on top of the windswept hill, the raven pendant dangling from the chain curled around her fingers. She didn't smile, but Chris-Alice could still see the emotion shining from behind her beautiful velvet eyes, only barely hidden behind her mask of coldness. "I can't believe you got this for me, it's… it's so wonderful." Her mouth actually turned up at the corner into something resembling a smile.

Chris-Alice smiled back dreamily, looking down at her friend's lips. "Mmm, you're so pretty when you smile."

Raven blushed demurely. "Nobody's ever called me pretty before."

"Well it's true…" Chris-Alice reached up, putting a gentle hand on Raven's cheek. Their eyes met, the light of the moon shining from them like powerful beacons as their faces slowly began to move closer together. "I love you, Raven…" She smiled slightly as their faces drew closer. She felt her hands grip Raven's, holding them tightly as she puckered her lips and let her eyes close, in a moment feeling Raven's soft lips pressing against her own…

Chris-Alice's eyes shot open a moment later, finding her hands wrapped around the top of her blanket as she stared in shock at the ceiling over her bed. "Wh-whoa…" She felt herself panting as her heart raced in her chest, so she raised a hand to her head and tried to relax. "What was that…? Such a weird dream…" She closed her eyes for a few moments to clear her head, then looked up at the ceiling again, seeing the first dim rays of morning poking in through her window.

She shook her head and slipped out of her bed, her pink nightgown fluttering down around her ankles as she made her way out into the hallway, down the steps toward the kitchen, where she could hear the coffeemaker humming. She made her way down to the kitchen, where she spotted her mother in a snappy looking suit with a knee-length skirt under a formal jacket and white shirt. She was standing in front of the coffeemaker, rapping her fingers on the counter impatiently until it rang a moment later, signaling that it was finished.

"Good morning, mom." Chris-Alice smiled up at her. It was a rare treat to see her before she went to work. She must have gotten up early.

"Good morning sweety." Her mother flashed her a warm, but somewhat rushed smile. "You're awake early… on a weekend, no less. Are you okay?"

"Actually, could I talk with you about something?" Chris-Alice asked a bit defensively.

"Of course, you know you can talk to me about absolutely anything." Her mother poured herself a mug of coffee and held it carefully in both hands as she blew on it to cool it.

"Well, I had this really weird dream last night, and I'm not sure what it means." Chris-Alice admitted softly.

"Dreams are just the mind making sense of the day, Chris-Alice. They usually don't mean much of anything." Her mother lifted the coffee to her lips.

"So… it doesn't mean anything if I dreamed I kissed another girl?" Chris-Alice asked innocently. Suddenly her mother gasped into her coffee cut, then let out a tremendous cough and doubled over, slamming her mug into the counter and dipping her face into the sink, making strange retching noises. "Um… mom?"

Her mother stood up straight suddenly, wiping off her mouth and looking down at her with a strange look on her face, somewhere between confusion and pure shock, though she hid it quickly behind a smile that seemed a little too wide. "Aheh… maybe we should sit down in the living room and have a nice long talk about this."

So they moved to the living room, sitting and facing one-another on the thick fluffy sofa in front of the TV. When they were comfortable, her mother smiled and reached across the couch to put a comforting hand on her knee. "Now why don't you tell me all about what's been going on with you, Chris-Alice?" She smiled encouragingly.

"Well, we've just been hanging out a lot, and she's a great friend… kind of a downer sometimes, but she cares about me." Chris-Alice began.

"So it was someone you know?" Her mother asked. Chris-Alice nodded. "I see… what do you think about it?"

"I don't know, it seems weird." Chris-Alice rubbed the side of her head in confusion, looking straight ahead at the blank TV. "Why would I have a dream like that? I thought girls only kissed boys."

"Hmmm…" Her mother pursed her lips in thought and raised one hand to her chin, staring down at Chris-Alice with an interested gaze. "Well, Chris-Alice… there are people in this world who um… prefer to… kiss people of their own gender."

"Really? Whoa." Chris-Alice's eyes widened slightly. "So you think I-"

"No no…" Her mother chuckled and shook her head. "It doesn't mean that, at all. Dreams don't really mean anything sweetie, but um… hoo, how to say this… I'm so much more comfortable with business…" She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, staring down at her daughter with a curious gaze. "I think… you just need to think about what YOU want and are comfortable with. It's something that everyone needs to think about, to look at, and to make a decision on."

"Oh… that doesn't help a lot."

"I know, sweetie, I know, and I'm sorry." She wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulders to pull her into a soft hug. "But you're growing up so fast, you've gotten to where I CAN'T help you much more… but that doesn't mean I won't be here for you any time you need me, okay?"

"Okay, mom." Chris-Alice nodded and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist in a tight hug. "Thanks."

"Any time… oh, and one more thing." Her mother bit her lip. "Don't mention this dream of yours to your father, okay? Some people in this world… this sort of thing makes them uncomfortable."

"Oh, okay." Chris-Alice was a bit confused by that, but had a broad smile on her face as she climbed up from the couch. "I'm going to go get dressed, thank you so much, mommy." She hugged her mother one more time, then turned to rush into the back to get her clothes from her room.

She ran herself a nice warm bath, soaking in the bubbles she added with a gleeful giggle for a while until she was sure she was clean enough to go about her day. Soon after that she was fully dressed and skipped out her front door to face the world, though her mind was still whirling with questions. Did Raven have a similar dream? What would she say if Chris-Alice told her about the dream? Would she be flattered? Would she freak out? Her mom did say that it makes some people uncomfortable.

At that thought, Chris-Alice slowed to a stop on the sidewalk in front of Raven's house, looking up at it with wide eyes. She had been thinking of talking to her about it, but the last thing she wanted to do was freak Raven out, what if she never wanted to see her again? She didn't think she could take it if she lost Raven as a friend. But she didn't want to keep this a secret either; she wanted to know what she was really feeling. She had to do something.

She grabbed at her hair, her breath starting to come harder as she gripped at the red strands. She tried to think, but she could feel her mind beginning to disappear into a whirlwind of worries and fears. What is she told Raven and she completely freaked out? Or worse, what if she didn't tell Raven and she found out anyway, what would she say? Oh man, she thought, she was having one of her episodes. She had to clear her mind, like the doctors had taught her. Calm down, calm down…

"Chris-Alice?" Chris-Alice squeaked in surprise when a voice spoke from nearby. She looked to see Misery-Whispers approaching the front of Raven's gate with a bass guitar tucked neatly under one arm. "What are you doing here so early? Raven hasn't even woken up yet."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I haven't woken her up yet." Misery-Whispers spoke with a trace of a smirk on his lips. "She never pulls herself out into the sunlight unless I pull her out of bed myself."

"Oh, you wake her up in the mornings?" Chris-Alice giggled. "That's very sweet of you…"

"That's not what she calls it. I think she'd kill me for it if I wasn't her boyfriend."

Chris-Alice didn't move, but it was like she felt something inside her chest crack without warning, sending her body into a strangely numb state. "Oh… you're her boyfriend?" Chris-Alice cracked a smile. "You… don't act like it."

"Public shows of affection are disgusting." Misery-Whispers grimaced. "We don't need to hold hands or any of that stuff to know we like each other. That stuff is for insecure sheep."

"R-right…" Chris-Alice felt like she was sinking deeper into a dark, cold ocean, until she could barely feel her own legs anymore. She wasn't even sure how she was standing. "Well, tell her… tell her I said good morning."

"Alright…" Misery-Whispers gave her a curious look, but didn't argue. "I'll do that. See you around." He gave her a wave and turned to make his way up the sidewalk to Raven's house, knocking on the door. Raven's mother let him in without hesitation and he slipped inside, as if it was a long-established routine that nobody could break.

It took Chris-Alice a few moments to move, her mind lost in a strange haze of conflicting emotions. She wasn't sure why she was so upset about Raven having a boyfriend, she wasn't even sure she liked Raven that way. Still, she supposed now it didn't matter. "So much for that…" She told herself in a soft squeak and turned to leave, her arms swinging at her sides as she made her way down the sidewalk. Almost unconsciously she sought someone she knew had no unpleasant surprises in store for her, someone who was always there.

Budge opened his front door with his usual bright smile. "Chris-Alice! It's good to see you out on the streets doing things. I know this last week has been a nightmare for you."

"Better a nightmare than a dream, right now…" Chris-Alice muttered. "-but that's not my problem. I um… have kind of a weird thing going on, and I could use some advice. My mom's already left for work by now, and she said not to go to my dad, so…"

"Well, if it's advice you seek, you know I am a man with lots to say and nothing to do." Budge swept off to one side, swinging his arm grandly towards his living room.

Chris-Alice giggled with a genuine smile. "You're the best." So they relocated to Budge's couch, where Chris-Alice told him about her dream, and the things her mother had said to her. She might have found it too embarrassing to talk to anyone else, even Creepie, but she'd known Budge her entire life. She trusted him with things she wouldn't even tell her own mother, and he had never broken her trust in the eight years they had known one-another.

"So now I can't even talk to Raven about the dream or it'll make things all weird between us." Chris-Alice sighed. "I don't want to lose her as a friend, but my mom said I should 'explore' this dream and find out what it means. How can I tell her I dreamed about kissing her when she has a boyfriend?"

"Hmmm… this is a tough one." Budge narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin with one hand, staring down at her in deep thought. It took him a few minutes before he spoke again. "Well, it seems to me the issue isn't just about Raven, but about girls in general, right? It's about homosexual thoughts."

"Homosexual?" Chris-Alice raised one eyebrow.

"Same-sex relationships, I've read about this on the internet." Budge grinned. "Everyone goes through times where they wonder, 'what-if', where they're not sure if they're just great friends with someone they want emotional intimacy with, or if they really want a physical relationship."

Chris-Alice blinked. "Yeah, that's it exactly!"

Budge beamed, proud that he'd found a solution. "So you don't really need Raven to answer this one, you just need to figure out if you have a physical attraction towards girls, or if the dream was really just about being emotionally close to her, as a friend."

"Right… how?"

"Well, scientists conduct tests to find real-world results." Budge told her. "What you need at this point is a real-world test with a real-world girl. Someone you trust almost as much as Raven. If you don't feel anything for them from kissing them, you're not a homosexual, and it was just a dream about emotional intimacy, rather than physical closeness."

"Budge, you're a genius!" Chris-Alice leapt from a sitting position on the couch to wrap her arms around his neck in a warm hug. "Oh thank you, I feel so much better now!"

Budge laughed and hugged her back gently. "Any time, Chris-Alice. You know where to find me if you need anything else."

"Of course!" Chris-Alice grinned as she pulled away, then leapt off the couch and darted for his front door. "I'll let you know how it goes, Budge!" She waved back at him before she closed his front door, giggling to herself. Budge was so smart, and talking to him always made her feel better, no matter what was going wrong. Now all she needed was a close friend like Raven who wouldn't be freaked out by this. Well… she really only had one girl in Middlington now who was such a close friend… not much of a decision to make.


	4. Part 4

A Friendship So Deep Part 4

Carla's house was one of the biggest in Middlington. Not because her parents made the most money really, but rather because she demanded to be given the best at all times and her parents were very quick to comply with her demands. It was a situation Chris-Alice found somewhat puzzling as she approached the huge front door that hovered over her like a wooden monolith. She had never asked for much from her parents besides encouragement and a few classes like martial arts and ballet, how Carla could milk her parents for things like this struck her as odd.

Still, Carla was her friend, and she was sure she would help if Chris-Alice told her the situation. She pushed the button beside the door, and stepped back to nod her head to the doorbell rendition of an All-American Rejects song ring throughout the house. The door opened a few moments later as the doorbell ended, the final notes punctuated by a thunderous 'pop' before Carla sucked the bubblegum back into her mouth after what must have been one truly epic bubble.

"'Sup, girl?" Carla swung the door open and stepped aside, wearing a green towel around her chest that fluttered down over her body, with another towel wrapped around her hair.

"Not much… am I interrupting?" Chris-Alice asked.

"Just in the middle of my weekend massage, no big. Come in, maybe you can join me." Carla waved her in and pushed the door closed behind her. "Stress isn't good for the skin you know, a weekly massage keeps the skin soft and smooth."

"That makes sense." Chris-Alice nodded. "But I wouldn't wanna-"

A few minutes later, Chris-Alice found herself wrapped in a towel, lying face-down on one of the long lawn chairs located in what must have been Carla's private massage parlor. A pair of strong hands pounded against her back in a steady, firm rhythm, pounding out the knots in her back. She squeaked in pain and clutched at the chair as the hands shoved against her spine with a loud cracking noise. For a moment she thought her back broke, but the pain faded a moment later with a relieved sigh.

"Wow, you must've been really tense." Carla smirked at her from the next chair over, similarly face-down.

"It hasn't been the best week for me." Chris-Alice admitted with a slight blush. "This feels really good though… painful, but good."

"You should do it more often." Carla winked. "So, what'd you come over for anyway?" She reached one limp arm down from the chair to pluck a cup of lemonade from the floor, bringing it up high enough to sip it through the straw.

"Oh, uh…" Chris-Alice blushed, her mind suddenly snapping back to the reason she had come. "Actually I wanted your advice on something… on kissing."

"Ah, you've come to the right place." Carla smiled.

"You've done it before?" Chris-Alice gasped.

"Hah, nah, but I don't need to. I've done lots of study, and I think I'll be ready when my future husband comes for me." Carla plucked her cell phone from the floor beside her drink and popped it open, sighing wistfully as a picture of Harry came up on the front screen. "I could drink in his lips for hours… mmm…"

"So… you wouldn't want to try it with someone else before you get to him…?" Chris-Alice prodded cautiously.

"Nope, I'm not kissing anyone else. My lips belong to him, and only him." Carla giggled and brought the phone in for a mock-tender kiss.

"Oh…" Chris-Alice sighed, not wanting to make things uncomfortable by pressing the issue any further. Instead she tried to focus on the massage that was quickly turning her body into a limp noodle. No wonder Carla and Melanie were two of the best cheerleaders in the state, if she got this kind of treatment on a regular basis she'd be as flexible as an Olympic Worm too. Now that she thought about it, though…

"Hey, where's Melanie?" Chris-Alice asked curiously. "I don't think I've ever seen you two apart for this long."

Carla's expression shifted curiously for a moment, then settled into a casual stare and a careless shrug. "We're not Siamese twins you know, we don't have to do everything together."

"Ookay, then…" Chris-Alice let the topic die, getting some very weird vibes from her friend all of a sudden.

They spoke a few more times about trivial things, what movies were coming out soon that they wanted to see, but otherwise the rest of the massage passed in companionable silence. When it was finished they gathered up their clothing again and slipped them on in separate rooms, then met once again by the front door.

"Thanks for the massage, I feel much better now." Chris-Alice smiled happily.

"Hey, no sweat, you looked like you needed to relax." Carla smiled. "Take it easy, alright? You don't need to be working yourself into a tizzy again, I want everything back to normal."

"Of course, okay." Chris-Alice nodded, then hesitated a moment before speaking again. "Can I ask… what was it like? In juvie?"

"What do you think it was like? It was a nightmare!" Carla shuddered. "You have no idea what they did to me!"

"Oh no…" Chris-Alice gasped. "Did the other girls… hit you?"

"No, it was waaayyyy worse than that!" Carla gulped. "They… took away my cell phone! Seriously, what was that!? Was I going to text message somebody to death!?" Carla panted for a moment, then shivered and regained her composure. "Okay, I'm okay now…" She clutched her cell phone to her chest as if someone would pop out of the wall and try to wrestle it away from her any second. "Nobody's taking it again, nobody…"

"Well… I'm glad you're feeling better, too." Chris-Alice flashed her friend a smile. "I'll see you later, Carla."

"Oh, alright. See you around, Chris-Alice." Carla waved and shut the door behind her as Chris-Alice left, making her way back down to the sidewalk.

Chris-Alice didn't hesitate for an instant at the sidewalk, knowing precisely where she was going now. She was too curious, and a little worried, not to follow up on Carla's strange look when she'd mentioned Melanie. Something must have happened between them, they weren't even on the phone talking about the day's gossip. This alone was enough to convince Chris-Alice that something was very, very wrong.

She approached Melanie's more modest house in the center of Middlington. It wasn't tiny, but compared to Carla's extravagant mansion, or even Chris-Alice's own home, it didn't exactly stand out other than being so plain. Chris-Alice paid all of this no mind, however. She didn't judge people by their home or money, so she made her way up to the door and knocked, stepping back to listen to the chimes play inside the building.

A blonde woman opened the door a few moments later and flashed her a smile. "Oh, hello. Chris-Alice, right?"

"That's right." Chris-Alice smiled brightly. "Is Melanie home?"

"Yes, she is…" The woman paused for a brief moment. "But I'm not sure she wants to see any visitors right now. Maybe you can play with her later."

"I just want to talk, I promise, I'll leave if she tells me to."

"Well, alright." The woman nodded and opened the door for her. "It's the third door on the left down the hallway… I hope you can cheer her up, she really hasn't been herself lately, at least, not when she's not around Carla."

"I'll do my best." Chris-Alice flashed the woman a bright smile, her suspicions being confirmed before she even set off into the back of the house. She rapped her knuckles lightly on Melanie's door and pressed her ear to it, listening for any movement inside.

"Yes?" Melanie's wispy voice called back from inside.

"It's Chris-Alice. Can I come in?"

"Oh!" Melanie gasped. "Coming!" She heard a soft rustling noise, followed by the thump of a pair of crutches rushing towards the door. Chris-Alice stepped before when the doorknob began to jiggle, and moments later the door swung open to reveal Melanie's typical obliviously smiling face. "Wow, I don't think you've ever been to my house before. Come in… this is my room! Well… yeah!" She gestured around to the room, which had a few pieces of furniture scattered around, the most prominent being the bed underneath the window and the massive armoire against the wall beside the door.

"It looks nice." Chris-Alice stepped inside at the gesture.

"Oh, and look at this!" Melanie hobbled rapidly across the room to her bed, which looked like it hadn't been made up at all that day. In fact, now that she looked, Melanie's hair was frazzled on top of her head, as if she'd only recently been lying down even though it was three o'clock in the afternoon.

"I found this a few days ago at the store!" Melanie bent down to reach under her pillow, pulling out what looked like a comic book. She whirled around and flashed Chris-Alice a toothy smile, just like the one the blonde woman on the cover on the comic was giving. "She looks like me! It's like I have my own book! Isn't it great!?"

"Haha, that's great. She DOES look just like you!" Chris-Alice smiled honestly. Melanie squealed and shoved the book back under her pillow.

"Melanie, why aren't you with Carla?" Chris-Alice asked boldly. Melanie was so caught off-guard that she tipped over on her crutches and toppled to the bed with a small 'oof'. "You're Carla's best friend in the world, and she's yours. I know because I've never seen you apart, and honestly? I'm kind of worried about you."

"Carla said we shouldn't hang out so much anymore." Melanie bit her lip and started nervously tugging in a few strands of blonde hair.

"What? Why?" Chris-Alice asked.

"Because I'm stupid." Melanie spoke in a blunt tone, as if it wasn't the most horrible thing she could have possibly said.

"Wh-what!?" Chris-Alice gasped. Sure, she had to admit she'd thought occasionally that Melanie was kind of dim, but for someone to come outright and tell her that… "Did Carla actually say that to you? That's horrible!"

"She was right, I was being stupid. Carla is always right."

"No, she's not." Chris-Alice rushed over to sit beside her on the bed. "Why would she say something like that?"

"Because I'm confused and stupid." Melanie was still talking in a simple tone, though it was obvious that she was distressed by this. "I don't even know what to think anymore."

"Don't know what to think? About what? What happened?" When Melanie didn't speak, Chris-Alice slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders, with a gentle smile on her lips. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me, but I'm here for you if you need to talk about it."

Melanie grunted, then with a sigh began to speak. "I didn't like being locked up, it freaked me out, I felt like I was all alone, except for Carla…" She hugged herself lightly. "Creepie always kept to herself, and she was in another cell anyway, so it was always just me and Carla in our cell and in the cafeteria, I don't think we were ever in separate rooms while we were there, until… until I tried to kiss her."

Chris-Alice gasped. "What…?"

"I know, it's stupid, that's why I'm stupid." Melanie nodded as if this was the absolute truth. "I couldn't help it, I just wanted to, I even had these dreams where we did it and I felt so badly that… I thought it might be nice. I thought it would make us better friends or something but I'm just stupid and-" Melanie continued to ramble for a bit, but Chris-Alice's mind was locked. It seemed amazing, it was as if Melanie was reaching inside her head and putting all of her innermost thoughts and worries to words. Suddenly, Chris-Alice realized she wasn't alone in this. There were others who were wondering the same things, who felt the same things. Others who were rejected…

"I wish I never did it…" Melanie sighed. "Now I don't think Carla ever wants to see me again."

"Carla's… firm." Chris-Alice smiled and squeezed Melanie's shoulders. "And sure she can be bossy and mean, but you've been friends forever. I don't think that's going to end over a kiss."

"Even if I'm stupid?" Melanie asked.

"Even if you're stupid... after all, there are plenty of stupid people out there." Chris-Alice smiled and nudges her in the side. Melanie giggled softly and wiped at one of her eyes, which had begun to fill with tears. "Besides, if thinking you'd like to get that close to a good friend is stupid, then you're not the only one in the world…"

"Huh?" Melanie blinked and looked up at her, her bright, baby blue eyes staring into Chris-Alice's green. "What do you mean? Do you…" Melanie trailed off, letting the question remain unasked. Chris-Alice wasn't sure if she'd already figured out the answer or if she was afraid of getting an answer. Honestly, she wasn't sure how to answer the question even if it was asked. So the silence held as they just stared at one-another, their minds racing with unasked questions.

Chris-Alice wasn't sure if she moved or if Melanie did, but it wasn't long before their lips were pressed together, with neither moving away in horror or disdain. It was a gentle kiss without much force applied to it, a simple thing that didn't need them to hold onto one-another or push it any further. It wasn't the experiment Chris-Alice had been looking for earlier, but it definitely felt like it gave her some results. She liked it… now if she could figure out what that meant…

The kiss ended as abruptly it began. Melanie had a slight smile on her face as her cheeks lit up a soft pink color. Chris-Alice could feel her own cheeks grow hot when she realized what happened, but still neither of them got angry at the other.

"Wow… heehee…" Melanie giggled. "I liked that…"

"Yeah… me too." Chris-Alice smiled brightly and clasped one of Melanie's hands in hers. "You look like you could use some sun, why don't we go get some ice-cream?"

"Yummm." Melanie licked her lips. "Okay!"

What it meant, Chris-Alice still wasn't sure. It was a new kind of feeling she'd experienced, and indeed, was still experiencing. She wasn't sure if she like-liked Melanie or if it was just because it was her first time kissing a girl, but she was sure those answers would come with time. In the meantime Melanie was her friend, and she was in dire need of someone to help her now that Carla was pushing her away. That was something Chris-Alice was happy enough to help her with.

Now if only they could find Creepie, everything could be perfect…

***

It was so dark she couldn't see anything, yet somehow she was comfortable. She could hear water droplets falling into a river of water somewhere nearby, the sound echoing soothingly around her, vibrating through her very skin. The moisture was hovering in the air all around her, clinging to the pitch black nightgown she still wore, and the blue hairs that covered her body underneath that. The cold dampness made her shiver slightly, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. In fact, she felt pretty good, despite not knowing where she was or how she had gotten there.

Over the sound of dropping water, she could hear the steady hum of insect wings beating at the air. They were swarming around her, hovering over her and landing on her body, as if making sure she knew that she wasn't alone here. She thought to say something to them, but she found she didn't really want to. She was happy to sit here, content, as if something strange was welling up inside of her, robbing her of her will to act, or even think.

"You've awakened to the hive, young one." A strange, crackling voice echoed through the darkness a moment before a light began to shine. It was soft, barely more than a tiny candle's flame, but after the total darkness it was enough for the girl to turn and look into the face of an old woman with bony hands, and a long mane of hair that travelled down her back nearly to her ankles. Her skin was stretched taught over her bones, as if she had never eaten in her life, but she showed no weakness as she approached with the candle in one hand.

"You needn't fear anything, anymore. Soon, you will no longer be a stranger to the world. You will no longer be the exception… soon, we won't have to worry about the humans anymore, my child…" The woman smiled a tender, loving smile and ran her palm lightly over Creepie Creecher's cheek. "Very soon…"

SEE YOU NEXT TIME

"Okay, on the count of three let's gas these bugs and take Insectiva down. One… two…"

"Three!" Abby and Ty Archer leaps over the railing, together, sliding down one of the beams that held the platform in place before touching down and whirling on the bugs. At once a powerful stream of gas erupted form their Goop Shooters, plunging straight into the massive cloud of insects that still hovered over the water. The noise grew louder and more shrill, as if the bugs were screaming in surprise and terror as the swarm began to disperse.

If it had been a normal swarm, it would have dispersed… but it didn't. The swarm loomed large outside the range of their shooters, then began to shoot down toward them in pockets like miniature missiles. Powerful blasts of gas met each missile knocking it off-course as the bugs fled for their lives as the two Grossologists met threat after threat without hesitation.

"Yeah, we've got you guys licked!" Abby grinned as another blast from her cannon took down a barrage of what looked like moths, though she'd never known moths to attack anything. "Now why doesn't your master show herself? We know she's here!"

Abby readied herself for further assaults, but the swarm of bugs didn't attack. Instead, they regrouped toward the top of the building, hovering right over their heads as their buzzing grew ever louder and more fearsome. Abby kept her Goop Shooter trained on the swarm, but Ty lowered his to stare up at the swarm in awe. "Ty, this is no time to let your guard down." Abby warn through gritted teeth.

"But look at them…" Ty muttered in awe. "Doesn't it look like they're talking to each other? It's absolutely incredible…"

Abby finally lowered her Goop Shooter, realizing that he was right. It did look like the hovering swarm was talking among itself, the various individuals either shrieking at them or whispering to one-another in hushed tones covered up by the sound of their beating wings. "There's something weird going on here…" Abby muttered.

No sooner did she mutter her last sentence than she heard a sound that made her back crawl and her Goop Shooter once again point to the sky. It sounded like the buzzing of insect wings, but the sound was so deep and massive it sounded almost more like helicopter blades spinning. "Ty, you have any idea what makes a sound like that?"

"No idea, it would take something huge. Keep your eyes open." Ty pressed his back against hers so they could watch as much of the building as possible. The deep wingbeats continued to pound at the air, growing louder by the moment, echoing throughout the massive metal building. They couldn't even tell where the sound was coming from, despite that it was now drowning out both the bug swarm above them and the pounding of the water through the pipes.

Abby didn't even have time to shout a warning when something split from the darkness, the wingbeats stopping for several seconds as the figure arched through the air towards them, the violet gossamer wings still against its human-shaped back as it raised claw-like hands into the air above it, screaming in anger.

COMING SOON  
Growing Up Creepier  
Verge of Extinction


End file.
